Advice on Huge Creek Deer

[BB_0976]

I’ve been getting photos of this amazing GA whitetail on my rope scrape set up in a creek bottom, however I only get pictures late at night, with the exception of this one right past dark. With the rut coming up I thought about setting it up as a doe in heat, however the property has way too many does. I just wanted to get some opinions on how to go after him, should I rattle, Grunt, or just hope I get lucky.

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[T-Max]

If he is anything like my deer, he will be daylighting soon and often. I am not the bedroom for most of the bucks I see, but I am for some of the does. The light switch turned on last week and they are all on my camera during daylight now. Just needed cooler temps and shorter days.

 

[yoderjac]

Rattling tends to work best with a high Buckoe ratio which it doesn't sound like you have.

 

[BB_0976]

Rattling tends to work best with a high Buckoe ratio which it doesn't sound like you have.

If I had to give a buck:doe ratio it’d prob be about 1:4-5, however there’s maybe only 2-3 decent bucks and the rest are little 4 points


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[yoderjac]

If I had to give a buck:doe ratio it’d prob be about 1:4-5, however there’s maybe only 2-3 decent bucks and the rest are little 4 points


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Rattling is not completely ineffective with low buck:doe ratios. Young bucks will test themselves against each other from time to time and their may be a curiosity factor with other deer. However, when you have a Buck:doe ratio closer to 1:1, there is a lot more competition between bucks. It seems that more aggressive rattling and grunting techniques are more effective under these conditions.

During the rut, it seems success has more to do with being at the right place at the right time. Hours on stand are often directly related to his.

 

[buckdeer1]

If they are mostly late at night then he is probably bedding a ways away most of the time.if you start getting them like that one and right after dark he may have moved closer and just a slight temp drop could get him there before dark.

 

[Turkey Creek]

If he is consistently showing himself on the same camera, sooner or later he will be there during light. Its just whether or not you have enough hunting opportunities to eventually be there when he is.

 

[Drycreek]

If I wanted to hunt just him, I would be trying to see where he’s coming from, and maybe set up a little closer to his bedding area. Not knowing how big your property is and how close that setup is to your property line, as well as your hunting style, makes it a little more difficult to strategize.

In my case, I grow food, and that attracts does which in turn attracts bucks. When the wind is right, I hunt somewhere almost every day, and I stay in the stand a lot. Luck is what I’m banking on, but luck favors the prepared.